To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Hawk's famous day out at Anfield, we arranged two Walking Football Festivals, one actually on the day of the anniversary, Friday 26th January, for the 60+ age group. The other on the Sunday 28th was for the 50+ age group.Ten Years After 60+ Festival reportExactly ten years on from the Hawks’ amazing day out at Liverpool in the FA Cup, the Many Shades hosted the first of their celebratory Festivals, welcoming Pompey ITC, Emsworth & Hayling, and Fleet of Foot along to join us. The Many Shades of Grey and the Many Shades of Yellow were fielded to make up a five team format, the 4.00pm start being a little unfamiliar for everyone.The Greys were reduced by an injury to one player (who still turned up to help with the organisation—thanks Barrie) and absence of two others who had originally promised to play. So they borrowed a player from the Yellows which left both sides with the bare minimum squads of 7, with no substitutes.Needless to say the depleted Greys didn’t get off to the best of starts, nor did they get off to the best of middles. In fact they didn’t really get off to the best of finishes either. They lost 2-0 to pre-Festival favourites Emsworth & Hayling, then 3-0 to the Yellows, then 4-0 to Pompey ITC. With runaway leaders Fleet of Foot next, a five-nil looked on the cards. But they dug in, and actually played some quite good football, only losing 1-0 in the end. The Greys’ injury problems struck again though, and they had to recruit Yellows’ ’keeper James McIlwaine for the last game. Having lost all four games the Greys were odds-on to finish bottom of the heap, and they didn’t disappoint!The Yellows, meanwhile, resplendent in their “Probably” shirts in recognition of the anniversary of the Cup run, and only missing one of their players, probably expected to do somewhat better. And so they did.They opened with a solid 2-0 win over Pompey ITC, before completing their comfortable 3-0 win over the battling Greys. Next up they met Fleet of Foot, and lost that one 2-1. They were feeling particularly aggrieved that they had been confused and bewildered by the referee, who was wearing a similarly coloured top to Fleet (the Greys didn’t seem to find this a problem though when they played them, and neither did anyone else...). Their final game was a pretty comfortable 2-0 win over Emsworth & Hayling. The Yellows’ goals came from Bobby De Ste Croix (5) and Derek Pope (3).In an appropriate finishing order, the team in the “Probably” shirts finished as they did at Liverpool, second on the day, but winners to the general public (or not). The final standings were Fleet of Foot (10 points), Many Shades of Yellow (9), Pompey ITC (7), Emsworth & Hayling (3), and Many Shades of Grey (0). This meant that the town of Fleet gained some revenge for being one of the stepping-stones of the Hawks’ cup run.The squads were:Many Shades of Yellow: James McIlwaine (g), Ian Warren, Pete Dolamore, Barry Tindall, Derek Pope, Rich Bishop, Bobby De Ste Croix. Many Shades of Grey: John Hicks (g), Barry Ingram, Mick Sidwell, Stew Russell, Colin Harberd, Barry Carter, Colin Baker.We all returned to the Westleigh for yet another of Suzette’s and Natalie’s stunning buffets. “Probably the Best Walking Football Festival Buffet in the World”Ten Years After 50+ Festival reportOr more precisely, “Ten Years and Two Days After” 50+ Festival.Part Two of our celebration of the Hawks’ amazing FA Cup journey to Anfield was held at Park Community School. Teams joining the Many Shades in our celebrations were Pompey ITC and Emsworth & Hayling, who both brought along very strong sides, along with Southampton DFA, Bognor Regis Town, and Mountbatten WFT.The Festival got under way with the Many Shades taking on the might of Pompey’s all-star line-up, and the guests’ slick passing and control, intelligent movement, and clinical finishing saw them romp home by a well-deserved 5 –0 margin. If Pompey were in a class above our doughty boys, then we were more evenly matched in our next game, against Bognor. Although the game finished 0-0, we were unlucky not to score, hitting the woodwork four times.That performance enhanced the Many Shades’ confidence, and it was Southampton DFA who felt the force of that resurgence. It has to be said that there was doubt over who to credit James McIlwaine’s first-minute goal to, as Southampton’s normally impregnable keeper juggled James’ shot between his ankles several times before it squirmed over the line. James’ undisputable second of the game closed out a solid 2-0 win.That win was followed up by another 0-0 draw, this time against Mountbatten. It was another solid performance, and could have gone either way. In our last game we met up with Emsworth & Hayling, who had been storming away, challenging Pompey for top honours. In spite of Jeff Pickering forcing home an early chance to put the Many Shades into a lead, it was E&H’s strength and organisation that saw them home to a solid 3-1 win.When we came to add up the results at the end, it was clear that Pompey and Emsworth & Hayling had dominated the Festival, with Pompey winning thanks to their 100% record, scoring 20 goals and conceding none. Emsworth & Hayling were second with four wins out of five, only dropping points to Pompey. The gap between second and third was a massive seven points—over just five games! Happily the Many Shades filled third spot with 5 points, followed by Mountbatten ahead of Bognor on goal difference both on 4 points. Proving that it was indeed “tight at the bottom”, Southampton DFA were only just behind them on 3 points.The Many Shades’ squad for this Festival was: John Kennett (g), Barry Ingram, Pete Dolamore, Stew Russell, Dave Hall, Colin Jeffery, Jeff Pickering, Steve Talman, James McIlwaine, and Andy Wilson. Back we went to the Westleigh for yet another example of Suzette and Natalie’s “Probably the Best Walking Football Festival Buffet in the World”.